6 Tips for Using Your Twitter Profile to Get New Followers

Since Twitter’s focus is on saying a lot with very little, it makes sense that the Twitter profile space is very brief and the default settings leave little room to present yourself in detail. It’s also the first and last thing potential followers will see before deciding to click “Follow” or to click away from your profile. Here’s a few tips to customize your profile so that potential followers will be convinced they can’t miss your Tweets!

1. Create a Custom Profile Page Background

Since the visual impact of your Twitter background is the strongest tool you have available, customize it to give people an eyeful of who you are.

You can make your own image on your computer and upload it under Settings – Design – Change Background Image. The first 200-250 pixels width on the left hand side is a great place to put additional profile information and list websites.

For a quick solution, you can create just the sidebar (250×700) as your background image with “no tile” selected. Then, modify the rest of the Twitter color scheme to complement it. You can use the first 200 pixels from the top for your picture or “header” for a possible logo and tagline.

The rest of the 400-500 vertical pixels should be used to tell others what you’re about and most importantly, what you’re looking for. Are you using Twitter to get business? To gather ideas for a project? To get feedback from customers? This is the best place to reflect your interests and other facets of your professional life if necessary, so that others can see it immediately.

Alternatively, you can use it to tell people how best to contact you like @garyvee who encourages people to email him instead of sending a Direct Message on Twitter.

Still not sure about the dimensions? You can use Browser Shots to see what it will look like on different screen sizes and browsers.

Other interesting uses of Twitter backgrounds:

2. Create a Twitter Landing Page as your “Web”URL

@pistachio had a great tip for this months ago when she created a “Twitter landing page” instead of sending users to the front page of your website. Advertisers create custom landing pages for different markets, so why not treat your Twitter audience differently, too? You can create one that explains to potential followers how you use Twitter and how to interact with you.

Some things you may want to include on your Twitter landing page:

- who you are / an abbreviated intro with a link to your more detailed About page, if available

- how you use Twitter (including frequency of Tweets, topics and if you use Twitter to tweet your new blog posts)

- your “follow” policy and how others should contact you if they want you to follow them back (with a “@user hello,” for example).

See Laura’s (@pistachio’s) Twitter Landing Page (Who is @pistachio?) as an example of this.

3. Use a Profile Picture that Reinforces Your Brand (You!)

Keeping your profile pictures consistent across all your social networks will help people find you and recognize you online as well as offline. A picture of you with a hat obstructing your face or you in your Halloween costume should probably be swapped out for a picture that looks like you almost all of the time. A hard-to-recognize picture may result in users squinting at it and clicking away instead of clicking “Follow.”

Of course, using a photo of your face may not be the only way to be “recognizable”:

@photomatt Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of Wordpress, has a profile picture which is simple a bright pink square. It’s certainly recognizable in a Twitter lineup, but unless you’re on magazine covers like he is, you’ll want to use your picture as a way for people to identify you and to create a visual and hopefully emotional connection with your Tweets even if they haven’t met you in-person.

If your company has a memorable logo (and you have the permission to display it) you may consider using it to increase brand recognition. Note that this is best when the content of your Tweets is close to your company’s mission/communication strategy.

4. Utilize your Profile “Bio” to your Best Advantage.

Be clever, be witty, or just be yourself! In a few words, sum up who you are and make it sound interesting. Since that’s what Twitter is all about, writing an intriguing Bio in such a small space shouldn’t be hard. Here’s also another opportunity point your audience somewhere. If you are going to point users to a site that is not your website or Twitter landing page, I recommend putting it here so that users see the entire URL instead of in your Web link which gets cut off. Transparency is always best.

@jowyang uses his Bio to give a brief explanation of who he is and points those interested to an article he wrote “How I use Twitter.”

5. Break up any @ Reply Marathons with Useful Tweets

If your potential follower is still on your profile page, and they’re not yet convinced about following you, they are going to check what you’ve been tweeting recently. Hopefully, they won’t see a sea of @ replies, which might insinuate that you spend a lot of time in micro-conversations that they may be left out of if they follow you.

I recommend breaking up any @ reply marathons with some useful, wide-audience tweets, share links or re-tweet a fellow Twitterer’s useful link.

Comments

Good tips. The one that I don’t use is the one that refers to a custom page on your website for different markets. I use special landing pages for different marketing campaigns when I want to measure exactly to what factors a user might respond.

I don’t agree with 5. because I’d much rather see @replies than people broadcasting about their latest blog post. And replies are how people add to the conversation – if noone replies, there’s no conversation, surely?

I’m unlikely to add someone if I don’t see at least a few @replies on a profile page.

The background sidebar can backfire. I frequently use an Apple 2006 Powerbook G4, 12.1 inch, which is similar to modern netbooks, and I have yet to see a twitter background sidebar which was useful for the small screen. Most text is cut off by a third or a half. Your current background, for example, cuts off after approximately 20 pixels of your eyebrow and 2/3 of your circular logo on the bottom. The effect is fairly irritating.

It’d be interesting to see how it translates for iPhone viewing, but for netbooks the sidebar needs to be smaller. Your Pro Blogger vertical stretch is sufficiently narrow, but the 60ish pixels of face is distracting.

Great tips. These are pretty much the ways I decide whom I’m going to follow. I haven’t been a fan of the custom backgrounds, but I finally created a very simple, clean one. I also like the idea of having a landing page on my own domain for it. I may try that one out.

Regarding the @reply marathons, I think there is certainly a balance to be found. I always say “Tweet unto others 10 times more than you Tweet unto yourself”. Put something of value out there, retweet another’s tweet, but do mix it up with some interaction… it is SOCIAL media right? Relationship building is what it’s all about.

This is great information. I’m new to Twitter (I’m ashamed to say that I chose not to use it for months). Now that I’ve signed up, every day I’m realizing that Twitter is a great tool. I’m a bit overwhelmed when I think of the possibilities.

Thanks for such an informative post (and yet more information to shove in my already over stuffed brain).

Its a good post i have to read it ones o ones and ones more. I have to improve my 3 twitter account, guiding my self bye what they say in this blog all my blog have a twitter account and @thebenchs and @blinkyit and I have to improve them all by know.

Great tips, I especially like the custom “landing page” from profiles, just like you would on other advertising campaigns. My team has been using this for clients and it really helps in building not only followers, but getting people to do other things after they leave Twitter

You’re making me a hero when I send new tweeters to your site — smart, useful, and in plain-speak (my favorite language.)

The only thing I’d add, as a know-it-all-Buttinski myself, is that it’s possible to make your @replies conversation useful to almost anyone who follows you by restating the topic, or describing the link, or being clear about what you’re thanking/spanking the person for — expansion along those lines — and a little personality never hurt. I can learn a LOT from watching the tennis match that is almost any @AmyDerby or @Havi or @Problogger conversation — yet the lovely @ChrisBrogan usually replies only in a few words that the “@intended” can make use of. “Thanks,” “Yep,” and “landing soon,” can be great tweets with a bit more, ie: “Thanks for the tip on airport shuttles that supply box lunch for flight” or “Yep, I too enjoy guilty pleasure of in flight magazine at mini.link” or “Landing soon in Burbank and need a quick shower before a meeting at 3:00 — anyone home nearby?” YES, Chris were tweeting, they’d be smarter — but you know what I mean. Listening in and butting in are the two best things about Twitter. Just wish it came with a “patch” so I could cut down…!

All great points. The one about twitter marathons is particularly relevant. When someone follows me, I always check their recent posts. If I see a lot of @ replies, I still browse back through their older tweets… sometimes. Trouble is, that’s easy to do if you’re at the twitter website, but not easy in TweetDeck. So it definitely reduces the likelihood that I’ll follow someone if their first page is full of @ replies.

Of course, having said all of that, mine’s probably full of @ replies too!

Cheers.

November 29, 2008

GirlPie

@divinewrite — Agreed, but I’ve found it easy to read up on past tweets (what I always do before following someone) in TweetDeck by clicking on their handle, and their profile comes up on the far right — listing all they’ve said recently… (it used to go back 48 hours — not sure how to set the range anymore in the latest version.) Did you mean the list doesn’t go back far enough if it’s been a busy conversation? (Checking out your tweets now!)

I have bookmarked this post for future references. Creating twitter background is the #1 priority for any serious twitter. These backgrounds cost $75 with professional people, but you can do it on your own if you are like me. Takes one hour of work at it. I created the design with a blank template from twittbacks and never looked back since and it helped me a lot..

Well now you’ve got me wondering if I should go back to the green background I created – although the lovely new one by @HughBriss of http://www.twitterimage.com is pretty slick as well (he also did Chris’s).

I’m rather more chatty on the @’s than the non-@’s – but I try to do both. Mostly tho, I gave up awhile ago trying to please everyone. I was too noisy for @timoreilly, but when I slow down too much, others start wondering if I’m okay! Then someone told me to just keep being me. It seems good advice.

As is everything on your twitip.com site! Love it Darren. Thanks for including me in a post!

I don’t know if there is a direct coalition or not but I started my blog on November 1st of this year. As of today, I have 3 RSS subscribers compared to 43 Twitter followers.

I created my Twitter profile when I started my blog, using a custom made background to provide people information about me and my blog. Whether that has played a part in the number of Twitter followers I have, I’m not sure. But I think I can safely say it hasn’t hurt.

Love this concept, but unfortunately, am not finding it as easy as others to follow your instructions.
What happens in btw these two sentences?“You can make your own image on your computer and upload it under Settings – Design – Change Background Image. The first 200-250 pixels width on the left hand side is a great place to put additional profile information and list websites.”

I am not a geek so I don’t really know how to take the template with Fabian’s photo and make it my own. Hope it was safer to download and unzip.

Thanks in advance for anyone that can offer really simple instructions to a newbie.

These are great tips! I’ve had a custom background for a while now and have created some professional backgrounds for fellow business owners on Twitter. I love the landing page idea from Pistachio and will certainly give that a try too. Thanks a bunch!

Maybe Blogspot or MarketingSherpa or Enquiro or Forrester could look for a correlation between a high ratio of @replies to fresh tweets, and popularity.

Because there are clearly two camps on this. Let’s call them the @ReplyLovers and the FreshTweetLovers. You know, in the spirit of W’s final days in office… just to grossly oversimplify things with absurd stereotypes.

It’s not true that @ReplyLovers’ tweets are *just* yes/nos or of really narrow relevance… sometimes they’re absolutely brilliant — more brilliant than the original tweet. But I do have to click through to see what the reply is a reply to (oh, the agony).

It’s also not true that FreshTweetLovers’ tweets always plug themselves.

I guess I’m in the FreshTweetLovers camp. At least, it seems to me that the funniest tweeps are posting fresh tweets, not replies.

So I steer away from folks who are only or mostly responding. But I see the point of the other camp.

Maybe Blogspot or MarketingSherpa or Enquiro or Forrester could look for a correlation between a high ratio of replies to fresh tweets, and popularity.

There are clearly two camps on this. Let’s call them the @ReplyLovers and the FreshTweetLovers. (You know, in the spirit of W’s final days in office… just to grossly oversimplify things using absurd stereotypes.)

It’s not true that @ReplyLovers’ tweets are *just* yes/no’s or of really narrow relevance… sometimes they’re brilliant. But I do have to click through to see what the reply is a reply to (oh, the agony).

It’s also not true that FreshTweetLovers’ tweets always plug themselves.

I guess I’m in the FreshTweetLovers camp. At least, it seems to me that the funniest tweeps are posting fresh tweets, not replies. And, most days, I crave good funny tweets.

So I steer away from folks who are only or mostly responding. But I see the point of the other camp.

Anyway, the 5 are great. I never thought of a landing page, but it seems like such an obvious thing to do now that you mention it. I’m so glad that you showed some samples of customized backgrounds – especially Chris Brogan’s… love the design! I’ve seen so many awful, eyesores that it really put me off custom backgrounds. But this is inspiring, I’ll give it a go. Sounds like a fun thing to make and share as well.

I must say I’ve been slack when it comes to my bio, my photo… just about everything really. Thanks for your article Sara, it’s inspired me to sharpen up my Twitter image for 2009!

Thank you for the tips! Like the one about a page for my Twitter friends! Did you see my Holiday Page? Made it just for my Twitter friends…got lots of great reviews: http://www.The-Secret-To-Wealth.com/twitter.html Thanks again for the tips! Russ

DesignInsomnia: The problem with any text on right hand side of background is that it only works for one screen resolution. Many people have larger screens, so the default is that your right side text is half-obscured.

Very nice tips! I’d also like to mention two of my Twitter applications that help you get new Twitter followers. Both utilize Twitter’s new OAuth for secure login.

1. http://twittermass.com – Helps you build, manage and nurture your Twitter following. A free suite of tools such as: smart auto follow, local follow, clone and seed new Twitter account, automate #FollowFriday tool, manual find and follow people within your own keyword universe. http://railsmachine.com is sponsoring the hosting of this site and keeping it free for the world to use.

2. http://milliondollarfollow.com – Million Dollar Follow gives everyday Twitter users a chance to win 1 million followers for only $1. A portion of the proceeds will be donated Malarianomore.org to help end malaria in Africa. Ordinary Twitter users now have the opportunity to instantly add hundreds, thousands or even a million followers to their account through Million Dollar Follow. By purchasing a $1 “advertisement” spot (each profile is limited to $1), members of Twitter can win followers at various points in the game. For example, when the number of participants reaches 1000, a winner will be randomly chosen from that pool and the other 999 will be added to his or her list of followers. Depending on how early a user joins, there will be 150 chances to win during the entire process. The final drawing at the end will be a total of 1 million followers for the lucky winner.

Great Tips!
I designed my own background and avatar and highly recommend others do the same. Designing a custom side bar in your background is very powerful. Add your photo or company brand/logo. Add links in your background to your website/blog and your social media sites. And any bio info information about what you do.

There are lots of resource sites for custom backgrounds available for download if not the creative type. In the near future I may design some professional twitter backgrounds for download to help others attract followers and project a professional image.

I need to update my background with more links to social media sites I have joined recently.

Good points, especially for the new people on Twitter! I have question here that maybe someone has a good answer to it. I have read in several posts in blogs, forums etc the importance of a good picture on your profile, etc..

But what if you are promoting your company, like in my case and my personal picture would not really add much information? Would my best shot be to insert then the company logo?

Andre –
I’d say that if you’re prepared to be something like a spokesperson and assert your personality in your tweets, and not just be the anonymous voice of an selling organization, then adding a logo to a portrait is a feasible way to go; there are many examples out there. However if your tweets are strictly from an organization, then perhaps your face doesn’t much matter and a business image such as a logo is better. But keep in mind that some people don’t like to converse with an entity. Likewise, many people don’t like being talked “at” receiving tweets that are strictly sales pitches. If you desire real engagement, I’d say keep your personality relevant.

Satya –
I can’t seem to connect to your Twitter page right now, but I assume you’re referring to the sidebar-type info on the left side of a typical Twitter page? I’d keep it even narrower than 250 pixels to accommodate smaller displays. I created a few Twitter backgrounds recently (@joehageonline and @savingshelterpets) and kept the sidebar area very narrow. Granted, it looks strange on a large screen, but that’s part of the strategy of having a somewhat busy background pattern overall.

I think retweet and commenting on twitter supported blogs / forums and use social networking sites is better approach than background trick to increase your twitter followers. im working in these though im very new to this.

Great tips, very useful. Creating the custom profile background image might be a bit too tough for non-techy, even though the PSD template is provided, and how many of us will have Photoshop installed?

If anyone came across any good online tools that can do this, please share. TQ.

I for the life of me cannot seem to get anywhere with twitter. 1st of all I dont even have an icon on my phone to get here. Btw am using motorola backflip. when I do make it here, I cannot find a way to access my profile & therefore no way to get a picture on here either. I would really enjoy twitter if I knew the slightest way to use it. Somehow I do have an account but its really difficult to use, so any & all help will be greatly appreciated. HELP SOMEONE PLEASE!!!